July 04, 2015

Miramanee in Star Trek Continues

Fan production "Star Trek Continues" re-creates the original series with incredible attention to detail. Crave’s Michael Franco talks with the series creator to see how he’s helping "Trek" live long and prosper.

Kirk is struck in the back of the head by an Eretrian dissident, forcing an emergency beam out.

While Spock and McCoy try to plead with Kirk, he once again has another hallucination: this time of Miramanee, the American Indian princess whom he married during a memory lapse (episode "The Paradise Syndrome"). Miramanee had became pregnant with Kirk's child, but subsequently died when Kirk was attacked by angry villagers. Kirk then experiences another seizure, but resolves to perform his duties.

In the American Indian village, Miramanee is on her deathbed. Kirk tells her he sometimes wishes that he had not been found, as he was never happier than when he was with her. She was a gift he could never repay. Miramanee tells him that he made her very happy; that her place was by his side; that one does not repay a gift.

[Kirk] begins to head to the bridge when he encounters the little girl again. He asks her name, and she says he never gave her one. She then shows him a gift–a piece of beadwork with markings from Miramanee's headband–at which point Kirk realizes she is a vision of his unborn child. Kirk imagines hugging her, and she whispers the word "Irises." Remembering now that this is the password, Kirk is able to activate the defense grid.Rob's review

The plotting and acting in these continuances is hit and miss, but the spirit is willing. They certainly convey the look and feel of Trek, if not their quality. They come across as below average but not totally unacceptable episodes compared to the originals.

As for Miranmanee (Tiffany Brouwer), it was nice to see her again and get some closure to her story. It was especially nice to see her unborn child, who would've been Kirk's second after David Marcus.

Fortunately the episode didn't add any new stereotypes to The Paradise Syndrome's story. In fact, the little girl was less stereotypical than anything in the original.

Another take on the series and Miramanee:

A web-series any Star Trek TOS fan should love(By Les)Whenever they have to match a character seen in TOS, they’ve unfailingly found an actor/actress that not only looked identical, but sounded and acted identical. In episode 4, “The White Iris,” for instance, they had to produce 3 women from Kirk’s past: Reyna (Requiem for Methuselah), Miramanee (The Paradise Syndrome) and Edith Keeler (The Guardian of Forever). They were instantly recognizable and acted precisely as the original actresses had.

Of course, Nakia didn't exist before this episode, so it was easy to get her right. But it was a nice multicultural touch to give Kirk a black girlfriend. And it nicely filled the gap between Carol Marcus, the somewhat unbelievable "Ruth" and Janice Lester, and the original series.